Doncaster residents handed new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour

Doncaster residents have been handed new powers to tackle antisocial behaviour in their communities.

The Community Trigger gives members of the public the ability to ask agencies such as the police, the fire service, councils and housing providers to review how they have responded to complaints of antisocial behaviour.

It is being launched in South Yorkshire today, ahead of the national launch next month. In many cases, problems with antisocial behaviour can be resolved by a single action by one agency. For example a warning letter from a council’s noise nuisance team to a household which has played loud music may be all that is needed to stop the problem happening again.

However, there are other cases of antisocial behaviour that may need a number of agencies across South Yorkshire to work together to tackle the issue. This is where the Community Trigger comes in.

Superintendent Colin McFarlane said: “As the Force lead for antisocial behaviour, I believe that the introduction of the Community Trigger is a great step forward in giving the public the tools and the methods to hold the police and other agencies, to account.

“The force will support this initiative fully and use the valuable feedback that we get to improve the service that we offer around antisocial behaviour.”

The Community Trigger is a new tool for tackling antisocial behaviour as part of the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, which received Royal Assent in March 2014. It has already been trialled in five areas - Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Richmond-upon-Thames, West Lindsay (Lincolnshire) and Boston (Lincolnshire) – before being introduced in South Yorkshire today.

The Community Trigger does not replace individual organisations’ own complaints’ procedures which can and should be used by the public where there is dissatisfaction with the conduct of an individual agency.

Every member of the public can raise a Community Trigger in circumstances where they, as an individual have reported three separate incidents relating to the same or similar issue of antisocial behaviour within the last six months.

Alternatively, a Community Trigger can also be raised where five different households have separately reported the same antisocial behaviour issue, again within a six-month period.

Members of the public who wish to activate the Community Trigger should contact their own local authorities, South Yorkshire Police, or South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.

If you wish to raise activate a Community Trigger with South Yorkshire Police, contact details are below: